Anyway this video talk about some of the themes that have come up on this blog overtime. Especially check out this post from November 15, 2005. It talks about the disparity in home value of two different neighborhoods that has roughly the same characteristics with minor differences. It's just that one is mostly white on the north side vs. the one that's mostly black on the south side and both can certainly be seen as middle class neighborhoods.
So Mr. Joe Zekas touches upon it. He calls this disparity a skin disease. Check out this note...
A 4 bedroom, 2 bath bungalow in Chicago's south-side Chatham neighborhood costs about $225K, but the same property in Belmont Heights on the northwest side goes for $350-$400K.
What's the difference? The Curmudgeon says it's nothing but the skin color of your neighbors, and suggests that's a "skin disease" that costs $800 to $1,100 a month to treat.
What is my point in posting this you may ask?
Well, because it's of interest. I like the Chatham neighborhood. I'm sure people from other parts of town will just blow off this south side neighborhood as just another ghetto. It certainly doesn't help if the general neighborhood is just about all black. It's believeable that it is a treasure that now one knows about until they actually drive thru.
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1 comment:
I've lived in Belmont Heights for close twenty-five years and I can tell you with most certainty that the skin-disease premium isn't worth it. Belmont Heights (and Dunning for that matter) is edging toward a better, more vital and engaging environment, but the process is slower than a snail's pace. A giant tortoise will die before BH becomes gains any level of vitality. Part of the problem is its lack of diversity. Too many dunderheaded (and bigoted) white city laborers with their entrenched archaic machine politics mentality, and too few professionals of any color. Why no professionals? The grievously poor level of public transportation. It literally takes over an hour to get downtown with the CTA. The nearest L stations, all blue line which essentially wraps Dunning, are 3-4 miles away. It also hurts that we're about as far away from the lake as you can get and still be in Chicago.
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